Debbie Rowe has breast cancer

4 July 2016

Debbie Rowe has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Debbie Rowe

The blonde nurse - who was previously married to the late Michael Jackson - was told she had the disease recently and is set to undergo surgery in the next week, TMZ reports.

However, Debbie and Michael's daughter, 18-year-old Paris Jackson, is said to be unaware of her condition as she severed all contact with her a year ago and her mother has "all but given up" on salvaging their relationship.

Paris - who, like her brothers Prince, 19, and Blanket, 14, was raised by Michael until his death from acute Propofol intoxication in June 2009 and then placed under the guardianship of her grandmother Katherine Jackson - grew very close to Debbie after the King of Pop passed away, to a point where it created friction with the rest of the Jackson family.

But when the troubled teenager sought treatment after an alleged suicide attempt in 2013, the pair drifted apart, with Debbie believing the Jackson family influenced her daughter and drove a wedge between them.

Paris recently spoke of how her 23 tattoos have helped cover her "dark past" and made her stronger.

Alongside a picture showing off her inked forearms on Instagram, she wrote: "the craftsmanship of tattoos will always be a controversy. some people like them, some people absolutely hate them. i appreciate art, i always have. especially when that art means something to me. today i can look at my inner forearms and see art that has meaning for me, i don't see a dark past anymore. my scars and self-hatred have been covered up by loving marks, creativity , ingenuity.. and depth. sure i will always carry my past with me, but i see ink as a way of changing for the better , always improving. they represent the strength for me. i look back at my old self and then i look in the mirror, and i see a fighter looking back at me. (sic)"

One of Paris' tattoos is her father's 'Dangerous' album cover, her second permanent tribute to the late King of Pop, after she had the words 'Queen of My Heart' in her dad's handwriting etched onto her left wrist.